Break the Lock
by UnabashedBird
Summary: Once they take the time to really get to know each other, Daniel and Vala realize there might be a lot more to what they feel than just "friends and co-workers." Not that things are ever that simple. D/V
1. Kicking

Title: Break the Lock

Author: UnabashedBird

Summary: Once they take the time to really get to know each other, Daniel and Vala realize there might be a lot more to what they feel than just "friends and co-workers." Not that things are ever that simple. D/V

Spoilers: Unending

A/N: This is my first fic. I'm not exactly sure how long it's going to be, just that this is only the first chapter of many. I'd love to know what you think! And, of course, none of these characters are mine; I just needed to play with them (Daniel and Vala made me!).

. . .

Vala felt restless and out of sorts, and she couldn't figure out why. Which of course only made it worse. Not that she was completely at a loss: she had a pretty good idea _who_ the problem was, just not why he had been getting to her so much lately.

Maybe it was that they'd been getting along too well. When they weren't yelling at each other, that is. She sighed loudly and allowed her head to collapse onto her folded arms, kicking rhythmically at the table leg near her chair.

"If you're bored, _leave_," Daniel growled, not looking up from the book over which he was poring. "Or at least stop kicking the table," he added, even more frustration creeping into his voice as the table jarred beneath his hand, turning the annotation he was attempting to make into an indecipherable scribble.

She increased the force and frequency of the kicking.

Daniel stood up, walked over to where she was sitting, grabbed the back of her chair, and wheeled it forcefully into the hall before she had time to figure out what he was doing and dismount. He quickly used his key card to close and lock the door behind her, then returned to his seat.

He paused a moment before resuming work. There was a time when what he had just done would have been immensely satisfying, but for some reason the feeling eluded him today.

Vala had always excelled at making him feel off balance, but lately it had been much worse. Maybe he was still adjusting to her bouts of unadulterated helpfulness: about a month ago, practically out of the blue, they had found themselves able to work together peacefully for days at a time, and, hard as it was for him to admit it, her assistance was often invaluable.

BANG.

Then, of course, there were days like today.

BANG.

Days when she seemed to be going out of her way to drive him up the wall, just because she could.

BANG.

It didn't even seem to bring her the prankster's glee it once had, and if he started yelling she yelled back with joyless fervor.

BANG.

Before he met Vala, Daniel would never have imagined that non-verbal yelling could be so irritating. Or loud.

BANG.

Sam didn't know whether it was more funny or sad that, from all the way down the corridor, she could pretty much tell exactly what was going on. Vala was sitting in a chair outside the closed—and probably locked, though she doubted that was much hindrance to Vala—door of Daniel's office. Using the door frame to anchor herself so she wouldn't roll away, Vala was repeatedly slamming both her feet against the door, taking advantage of the chair's rotating seat to increase the force of impact and the volume of the resulting BANG.

They were at it again.

It didn't go like clockwork, exactly, but recently most personnel who worked in the vicinity of Daniel's office had learned that if Daniel and Vala got along for more than a day without at least a minor skirmish, it was time to duck and cover because another big one was brewing.

So when Cam had popped his head around the door of her lab and said, "Tag, you're it," before making himself scarce, Sam had immediately headed for Daniel's office.

Vala hadn't been planning to keep up the kicking for this long—she did have an unauthorized key card to the office stashed in her quarters, so she could let herself back in whenever she wanted. But the impact and the noise felt _good_. She was pretty sure therapeutic was the appropriate earth word.

She saw Sam coming towards her down the corridor, looking both amused and exasperated. Vala smiled, but she didn't stop kicking.

"Mochaccinos and the mall," Sam said by way of greeting. Vala clearly needed to get off the base for a while, and she wouldn't mind the break herself.

Vala stopped herself mid spin. "When?"

"Now."

"OK. I'll meet you at the elevator in ten minutes." And with that Vala jumped off the chair and skipped towards her quarters to change into civvies. Sam couldn't help but smile at the ease with which her friend could bounce back into a good mood.

Daniel, on the other hand. . .

He looked up, tirade ready, when his office door slid open, but it was Sam instead of Vala. Feeling sulky, he tried to ignore her.

"Do you have a second?" she asked quietly. Even though part of him knew he was being childish, Daniel continued to work.

Sam sighed inwardly. Much as they hated to admit it, Daniel and Vala could be two peas in a pod: they both reverted to the mindset of aggrieved teenagers when provoked in certain ways.

"OK, then, I'll just talk. I'm taking Vala off base for the afternoon. Change of scenery, retail therapy, girl time, that sort of thing. I'm hoping maybe you'll use some of that time to figure things out on your end, because whatever problem you two are having is getting out of hand. If you have to fight, you really need to find a less disruptive way to do it. I'll see you later."

"Sam—" Daniel finally looked up, but she had already left. He felt guilty for pretending to ignore her like that, especially when she was right. He decided to go talk to Teal'c.

* * *

Sam had managed to convince Vala to get the mochaccinos before they hit the mall—she didn't say so aloud, but Sam thought it would be better for Vala's bank account if she completely recovered from today's fight before the shopping began.

"So," Sam began, sitting down opposite Vala and handing her her drink, "want to tell me what Daniel's office door did to deserve getting the crap kicked out of it like that?"

Vala smiled. Sam might not have been a jokester like Cam, but in her own quiet way she was often better at seeing the funny side of things than the boys were, at least where Vala and her antics were concerned. She liked having a friend like that—it made it easier to talk about things. Maybe that's all she needed: to talk through this mess. What was the earth phrase? Verbal something.

"Yes. The door. That _could_ have been related to the person hiding _behind_ it, but I admit _nothing_. And, OK, I suppose if we're going to be technical about it I _may_ have started this one. But it's his—I mean its—fault that I was all, oh, what's the word? Something to do with insects."

"Antsy?"

"Antsy! That's the one! You have such delightful idioms on this planet. Anyway, it's Daniel's fault that I was antsy, so I didn't really start it at all!"

Sam raised her eyebrows, but she also smiled. She suspected there was more truth in the excuse than Vala would like to admit. "Wait. I'm confused. I thought we were talking about the door?"

"Oh, you know perfectly well who we're talking about, there's no need to rub it in!" Vala retorted, glaring good-naturedly over the rim of her cup as she sipped her coffee.

"Hey, you know me, great with the physics, easily confused by interpersonal metaphors," Sam rejoined, half-heartedly attempting to conceal her grin with her drink.

"You know, for the most intelligent woman I've ever met, you can talk such nonsense," Vala replied. "I'm fairly certain that you're the most interpersonally aware of the five of us. Well, with the possible and recent exception of Teal'c, but he has an unfair advantage, what with those fifty years on the _Odyssey_."

Sam ducked her head in acknowledgment of the compliment. "Does that mean you won't bite my head off if I ask what Daniel does that makes you antsy?" she asked, steering the conversation back on course.

Vala stuck out her tongue, but Sam only smiled and raised her eyebrows. Resigned, Vala tried to explain. "Oh, you know. He's just so. . . so. . . _him_. All work no play. 'Don't touch that.' 'I don't care what happened in the episode of _Lost_ you watched last night.' 'Spending hours scrutinizing this artifact _is_ fun, Vala, so shut up or go away.'" She paused for breath, but Sam sensed there was more, so she didn't say anything.

"Except sometimes I sort of get it. Sometimes, when we're on a new planet, or there's something I can actually help with in his office, he'll figure something out about people, actual people. And I get it, because it's a connecting point between us and them. A glimpse of their world. And just because I'd rather get that from your television or by meeting people in a bar doesn't mean I can't see why he loves his way so much.

"Maybe I just wish that he'd make as much of an effort to see my side as I do to see his. Well, I say effort. I mean I do make one. Some of the time. When I'm not already so bored that I somewhat deliberately start a shouting match because at least that might use up enough energy for me to be able to take a nap afterwards. Shut up." She glared at Sam over the rim of her cup.

Sam dimmed her amused grin into an understanding smile. "Feel better?" Vala nodded, sipping her drink. "For the record, I think you're probably right. About why you get so frustrated, I mean."

"Well, thank you Dr. Carter," Vala replied, genially sarcastic.

"Come on, it makes sense. Lately you've been trying harder to understand Daniel's perspective, which is why you've been able to get along so well, but he hasn't returned the favor, which is why the fights have been so bad."

"Please tell me this is your roundabout way of bestowing your blessing on me giving him a well earned kick in the pants," Vala pleaded.

"I think we both know that would be counter-productive, even though he does kind of deserve it. Which you did not hear from me," Sam replied, and they both laughed.

Vala felt better. Sometimes figuring out the nature of the problem really was the hardest part. . .

"So with the kick in the pants off the table, what _are_ you going to do?" Sam asked.

. . . or not. Vala swallowed. "Umm. I suppose _technically_ I should apologize. . . to the poor door. As a start."

"Well," Sam replied, eyes twinkling, "I think _the door_ is particularly fond of the house roast they sell here," she said, indicating the bags of ground coffee by the shop's counter. Vala beamed.

"Excellent. And now that that's sorted, we can move on to more important topics."

"Such as?"

"Such as you fulfilling your promise to explain about football and why it's so important to so many of the males of your culture in a way that actually makes sense; Mitchell's inability to contain his enthusiasm always renders him incoherent about thirty seconds in."

"Ah. Well . . ."

* * *

"Greetings DanielJackson," Teal'c said as Daniel entered his quarters. "Does something trouble you?" he asked.

"Well, I think it's common knowledge by now that Vala and I have been fighting—I mean really fighting—a lot lately," Daniel replied, leaning against the wall.

"Indeed." Teal'c responded, with something Daniel thought looked suspiciously like a twinkle in his eye. It was an unusual expression for Teal'c, but Daniel had noticed it a lot more since their fateful trip on the _Odyssey_. He wondered what memories lay behind that look.

"Anyway, Sam just took me to task about it, said that if Vala and I have to fight we need to be less disruptive about it, but Vala just, I don't know, gets under my skin, and I know she does at least some of it on purpose, and I don't seem to be able to deal with it anymore." Daniel had pushed himself off the wall and started pacing.

"Mmm."

"And you know, none of this would be a problem if she would just leave me alone to get my work done, but of course she can't do that, because as far as she's concerned my main purpose in life is to be her plaything when she's bored!"

"DanielJackson," Teal'c interrupted, "is it not the case that ValaMalDoran has also been increasingly helpful to you in your work in recent weeks?"

"Well, yeah, on the occasions that she takes a break from driving me _nuts_," Daniel admitted.

"Does she then assist you only out of boredom?"

"What? Of course. Why else would she. . ." Teal'c raised an eyebrow, and Daniel trailed off. Now that he thought about it, Vala _had_ seemed interested in his work for its own sake, and not as the last line of defense against boredom, during the last month or so.

"OK. So she's finally catching on to the fact that my work is fascinating. That doesn't explain why she's even more of a pain in the ass the rest of the time or help me figure out how to deal with it."

"Have you considered devoting some of your time to the things that interest her?" Teal'c queried.

Daniel didn't see what that had to do with it. "I'm not following you, Teal'c. What do fashion magazines and too much TV have to do with Vala driving me further up the wall than ever before? She's been into that stuff ever since she came here."

"It appears to me that ValaMalDoran has recently made an effort to understand why you enjoy your work, but that you have made no reciprocal effort towards her interests. Could this imbalance not be the source of her increased antagonism towards you?"

"Oh." Daniel was ashamed for not figuring that out on his own, and even more ashamed that he probably wouldn't have. Still, he had a potentially non-torturous idea of how to start fixing things.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that _Lost_ show she's always going on about, would you?"

Teal'c smiled. "Indeed I do, DanielJackson. ValaMalDoran and I often watch it together. I believe it is considered a very intelligent program, with many references to the religion, philosophy, and literature of your world. Were you to watch it, you would perhaps not find it unpleasant." Teal'c chose not to mention that one of the main points in the show's favor, in the eyes of ValaMalDoran, was what she deemed the attractiveness of several of the male characters.

Daniel thought that sounded surprisingly promising. "OK. Thanks, Teal'c. I really appreciate it."

"I am glad to have been of assistance, DanielJackson."

Daniel went back to his office and worked in peace, both environmental and internal, for the next several hours.

* * *

Vala knocked on the door frame of Daniel's office. He looked up.

"Can I come in?" she asked, hovering hopefully, hands behind her back.

"Only if you show me what you're hiding behind your back first." He wanted to mend things, but Vala hiding something was always reason to play it safe.

"Oh, this?" she said innocently, bringing the large bag of ground coffee out from behind her back. "It's just my apology. For the kicking." And she walked in and set the bag on the table in front of Daniel, then, after checking for breakable items, hoisted herself up and sat, legs swinging.

Daniel picked up the bag and inhaled the aroma of his favorite coffee appreciatively. "Apology accepted." She flashed him a grin, jumped down from the table, and made to leave the room."

"Wait." She paused and turned to look at him quizzically. "I was thinking."

"Well now, there's a shock," she interjected playfully. Daniel rolled his eyes, but he didn't really mind.

"It's been pointed out to me that you've been showing a genuine interest in my work, but I haven't, um, reciprocated. And _Lost_ sounds like it might not actually be that bad. So, if you wanted, I could watch it with you sometimes. To even things out."

Vala's eyes had lit up as Daniel talked, and he couldn't help giving her a small smile. Only a small one, though: she looked like she was scheming a million miles a minute and he didn't want this to get out of hand.

"Right. Season 3 just finished a couple of months ago, and season 4 isn't in the air yet—"

"_On_ the air."

"Whatever. Teal'c has the first two seasons on DVD, which is what I've been watching. So we'll just use those and start from the beginning!" She ran to him, grabbed him by the arm, and began dragging him from the office.

"Whoa, slow down!" Daniel protested, freeing his arm with difficulty. "I guess that's OK, but I am _not_ marathon-watching. In case you've forgotten, we've still got work and an imperiled galaxy." She began to pout. "But I'm willing to watch the first few episodes with you tonight, _after_ I finish up here," he concluded, indicating the work spread out on the table behind him.

Vala gave the books, papers, and sundry a cursory glance, then nodded. "Meet me in the mess in half an hour for supper," she told him decisively. "After that, your education begins!" And she bounced out of the room before he could either agree or protest.

Seconds after he resumed his seat, she stuck her head around the door. "If you're late, I'm coming to get you. With fluffy pink handcuffs." She was gone again.

Daniel put down his pen and began cleaning up his work for the night.

* * *

"Burning the midnight oil again, Jackson?" Cam ribbed as Daniel yawned hugely while they made their way to the briefing room the next day.

"Not exactly. I stayed up really late watching _Lost_ with Vala."

"OK. Who are you and what have you done with Jackson?"

"Hilarious, Mitchell. You shouldn't mock: the theory is that it will help us stop fighting," Daniel retorted.

Cam put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Say no more, say no more. Whatever it takes to get you two back to normal." Daniel looked at him incredulously. "Point. Back to not biting each other's heads off so loudly that we've had complaints from Atlantis." Daniel glared.

"Y'know," Cam said, "I don't think you've had enough coffee yet."

Daniel smiled ruefully. "Yeah, you're probably right. Actually, that reminds me: Vala bought me some of my favorite roast yesterday, and I left it in my office. I'm gonna go make myself a cup, and I'll see you at the briefing."

Sam didn't catch what Daniel said to make Cam freeze, but he hadn't quite recovered from the shock when she caught up to him in the corridor.

"Everything OK?" she asked.

Cam turned to stare at her. "That," he stated emphatically, "is an interesting question, and you might well know the answer better than I do." Sam raised her eyebrows in query.

"Apparently Vala bought Jackson specialty coffee. And Jackson stayed up late watching _Lost_ with Vala. Now, I know we all want them to stop blowing up at each other, but this is just. . ." he hummed the _Twilight Zone_ theme. Sam laughed.

"Admit it, Cam, you're just worried you'll lose the bet about if and when Daniel and Vala get together."

For the second time in as many minutes, Cam found himself rooted to the spot in shock as one of his teammates strode off after dropping what, for him, was a bombshell. Sam was _not_ supposed to know about that particular betting pool. And if she knew about that, the odds were she knew about. . .

_Crap_.


	2. New Normal

Spoilers: reference to plot arcs from throughout seasons 1-5, specific though brief references to Heroes, The Shroud, and Dominion

A/N: Thanks so much for all the kind, encouraging reviews on the first chapter! You all are awesome! Just a heads up, although this is primarily a Daniel/Vala fic, I can't seem to resist including lots of team friendship stuff, both as a way to reveal what's going on with the wonder duo and just because it's fun, so I hope you don't mind. Feel free to let me know what you think!

. . .

To say that things didn't look good out there was an understatement. It had gotten to the point that nearly every SG team returned from nearly every mission with reports of yet another planet accepting Origin. The absence of the Orici, the possible death of the Ori themselves, made no difference to the Priors and their armies. If anything, their fervor had increased.

Daniel was puttering around his apartment, finishing setting things out for team night, talking on the phone with Jack and trying to explain the grimness of the situation.

"No offense, Jack, but you're not out there seeing it any more. I don't think you can understand how. . ." he sighed, "how hopeless it feels."

"Now, see, I have a problem with that," Jack retorted. "There is no way you're going to convince me that you, Dr. Jackson, knower of an unholy number of means of communication, is incapable of yacking on about it until I either get the point or die of boredom. And it's no good rolling your eyes at me, I can't see you," he added.

Daniel rolled his eyes anyway. Typical Jack: try to lighten the mood by any means necessary. He kind of had a point, though. "Fine. It's like. . . like when we first started out, and the Goa'uld were so powerful, and just _everywhere_, that it was almost impossible to imagine ever overthrowing them. It's like all the times we thought we'd killed Apophis, only to have him show up again, usually stronger than ever before. It's like when we thought we'd finally be able to cripple the System Lords, only to have Anubis show up and make everything worse. It's like. . ." then it hit him, the perfect analogy: "Jack, it's like watching the years we spent defeating the Goa'uld in reverse, sped up, except the Ori's followers are even more fanatical and unquestioning, and we're completely on our own."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

"At least we know we're stubborn enough to keep trying anyway. Or at least you are."

Daniel smiled ruefully. "It is one of the few things we've always had in common," he pointed out.

"Yeah. So. . . " Jack wracked his brains for a good change of subject. Preferably one that would irritate Daniel out of this vein of near-despair about the Ori situation. Oh, of course! "How's Vala?"

Daniel blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I hear things have calmed down. Do I need to give her some tips on new ways to annoy you?"

"For God's sake Jack!"

Oh yeah. He'd definitely hit the right nerve. Time to have some fun. "Kidding. Mostly. I hear she's got you watching kind of a lot of TV. Make's a guy wonder how she persuaded you: all those years of friendship and I can count the number of _Simpsons_ episodes you watched with me without taking my shoes off. Are you very sure she doesn't have hidden superpowers? Mind control, maybe?"

"Only if irritating the hell out of me counts. But I thought that was _your_ superpower, Jack." Daniel was experiencing the weird combination of perturbation and enjoyment that only a conversation with Jack O'Neill could inspire. With friends like these. . .

"Oh, it was, but I passed most of it on to her in a clandestine ritual involving beer and country music." Jack heard Daniel snort. "Fortunately, she already had a lot of natural aptitude, so I was able to retain some of my powers."

"Obviously."

There was a pause. Jack knew he might regret it, but now that he'd gotten Daniel to lighten up, he needed to gauge how his friend was handling everything.

"Seriously, Daniel, are you OK?"

"Yeah, Jack," Daniel answered, realizing with some surprise that he meant it. He decided to try and explain. "I. . . it's weird. Have you seen the show _Lost_?"

This conversation was going in an unexpected direction. "Yep. I like Sawyer."

Daniel rolled his eyes again. "Of _course_ you do. Anyway, that's the show Vala and I have been watching. And, I don't know, I guess there's something comforting about seeing fictional people overcome extraordinary circumstances to survive and even thrive another day. Plus. . ." No. Jack would laugh. Or get the wrong idea. Or both. "Never mind."

Oh, no. Jack was _so_ not letting this go: whatever Daniel had been about to say had to do with him being in a good frame of mind, and Jack liked to keep track of things like that, just in case. "What?"

Daniel recognized Jack's stubborn voice: he wasn't going to drop the subject until Daniel told him. Damn. "Don't get the wrong idea, and don't laugh, OK?"

Jack's mouth ran ahead of his brain, being flip at just the wrong moment: "No promises, Danny boy."

"Jack!" Daniel needed his friend to be serious if he was going to talk about this.

"Sorry. No laughing, no wrong ideas. Got it. Please go on."

Daniel sighed. "OK. So Vala's a very physical person. With everyone, though she does tend to single me out, probably for the same reason she goes out of her way to annoy me more than anyone else." Jack was inclined to agree, but for the moment he kept his ideas about what that reason was to himself.

"So she tends to use me as a human pillow while we watch _Lost_. And, I don't know, I guess it reminds me of Abydos. I guess I'd forgotten, but everyone there was really physical, always touching, and it was no big deal. It was part of life. Vala being that way, too, is. . . nice." Daniel was somewhat taken aback: he hadn't made that connection until just now, but he knew it was right. He set to work _not_ thinking through the possible implications.

Jack had never asked for details about Daniel's time on Abydos any more than Daniel asked about Jack's home life from before Charlie died. But Jack had gotten the impression that, despite it being a foreign culture on another _planet_, Abydos had been more of a home for Daniel, in the best sense of the word, than anywhere else had been for a very long time. Jack knew that the SGC had become home for Daniel since then, but he still got wistful if Abydos came up in conversation. So Vala had started reminding Daniel of his old home, huh?

Jack smirked. He was _so_ going to win that betting pool.

However, as he often did, he played dumb. "Well, I don't pretend to know what you're talking about any more than I usually do, but it sounds to me like you've found an almost normal way to kick back and relax. Of course, you could always cross all the way over into normal and at least try and sed—"

"Jack!" Fortunately for Jack, before Daniel had time to properly lose his temper, the doorbell rang. He heard Daniel call "It's open!"

"Expecting company?"

"Team night. My turn to host." Jack felt a pang as he heard the sound of greetings and the bustle of final setup on the other end: food and drinks being arranged on Daniel's coffee table, seats being claimed, the movie prepped. Jack missed that. Then he heard Carter's voice, and he remembered his most recent fishing trip. Yeah, he missed being part of the team, but there were definite benefits to no longer working at the SGC. He smiled, good mood restored.

"Whose turn to pick the movie?" he inquired.

"We're watching _Star Wars_," Daniel answered, resigned. Translation: Teal'c.

"For crying out loud. How many times has he seen that now?"

"I have no idea, but Sam and Cam have a bet on it. I can fill you in later."

"That's OK: I think I'd rather not know. Sometimes I really can't handle the truth. Out of curiosity, _why_ are you indulging his excessive obsession with those movies?"

"Vala hasn't seen them yet."

"Of course. Continuing the cultural education. Hey, I'll bet she has a deep, spiritual connection with Han Solo. Which, if half the rumors are true, would make you Princess—"

"Good_bye_, Jack," Daniel said, ending the call. If the rumors were true? What the hell did that mean? He pushed it out of his mind—probably just more fallout from Vala's insistence on calling their disastrously interrupted dinner outing a date, combined with the recently increased amount of time they spent in one another's company.

"How's the general?" Cam asked, popping the lid off a beer and settling into one of the easy chairs.

"Obnoxious," Daniel replied succinctly. Cam looked like he didn't quite know how to respond, but Sam and Vala both grinned.

"What?" he groused, wondering if he would regret asking.

"Well, did the sun also rise in the east this morning? At least from your perspective?" Sam asked, eyes twinkling.

Daniel couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, you may have a point there," he conceded.

They all filled their plates, poured themselves drinks, and arranged themselves around Daniel's small living room. He, Sam, and Vala were on the couch, and he was pretty sure Vala had picked the middle on purpose: both he and Sam would no doubt be human pillows by the middle of the movie. He would pretend to mind more than he did since he didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea. Again.

Vala found room for her feet on the coffee table, narrowly avoiding upsetting a bottle of wine and one of the take-out containers in the process. Fortunately, no one noticed her near miss, or at least refrained from commenting if they did. Which meant Daniel _definitely_ didn't see. That was good: grumpy Daniel tended to be much less tolerant of being used as a human pillow.

"So," she began, between large bites of food, "what am I in for this time? It must be good if Teal'c has seen it—how many times did you say it was, Muscles?"

"Nineteen."

"NINETEEN?!" chorused Daniel, Sam, and Cam.

Teal'c smiled broadly. "Indeed."

Cam fished in his pocket and passed Sam some folded bills. "One of these days I'm gonna learn my lesson," he said ruefully.

"Not any time soon, I hope," said Sam, and even Cam had to chuckle. Teal'c, however, was all business. He waited for the merriment to cease, then hit play.

_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . ._

* * *

As much as was possible given their jobs, Daniel and Vala had developed a rhythm. When they weren't off world or in briefings or other meetings, they spent the working day in Daniel's office. If Vala could help with what he was working on, she did. If not, she had a corner where she could do paperwork or study up on any number of subjects that would increase her range of helpfulness to the team. Lately she had been focusing on languages because, though loathe to admit it, she enjoyed helping Daniel, and if she treated them like puzzles then they could actually be interesting, at least for a while. Daniel pretended not to notice that she had picked up the trick of hiding a book or magazine inside the work-related material she was supposed to be studying, because if she was fully occupied then he could continue getting work done.

Sometimes Vala spent the day helping Sam in her lab instead. Although she did so less incessantly than previously, Vala still asked a lot of questions, so Daniel appreciated the quiet on those days. Well, mostly: there was a small part of him, a part he worked very hard to ignore, that was getting used to her near-constant presence in his office and almost missed her when she wasn't there. But only almost. Or so he told himself.

Vala liked helping Sam on occasion, but she would find herself looking up, about to say something to Daniel, and have to remind herself that he wasn't there. Those were odd, slightly disconcerting moments, though not as disconcerting as the little twinge the fresh observation of his absence brought.

After work, if the team didn't have evening plans, Daniel and Vala met in the mess for supper. Apparently, Daniel had quickly learned, those who had their evening meal there on a regular basis were not only accustomed, but actually looked forward to, Vala's delight in regaling anyone who would listen with tales of her exploits throughout the galaxy. Daniel thus often found himself eating in a combination of amused, exasperated, and irritated silence as he tried to puzzle the truths from the lies in her seemingly far-fetched stories.

His ability to detect her deviations from truth, which ranged from poetic license and exaggerations to outright lies depending on the story and the audience, had greatly improve in the course of their acquaintance. But, for better or worse, Vala had spent years honing the art of deception, so even he was never entirely sure which parts of her stories were basically true and which should have set her pants ablaze.

And thanks to the great delight she took in keeping him on his toes, asking her, once the story was over and the audience had dispersed, was an exercise in futility.

"Honestly, though: were they _really_ motherships? And how many, really? Because I might just be able to believe motherships if there were fewer."

"You know, Daniel, if people were as skeptical about our mission reports as you are about my past, nothing would ever get done around here."

"It's not the same thing and you know it!"

"Suit yourself. Now come on, I need my daily dose of shirtless Sawyer!"

Pretending like he already knew the truth and just wanted _her_ to admit it was also fruitless; she was much better at calling his bs than he was at detecting hers, at least in this area.

"Just admit it: it was only one tenth the amount of naquadah and a quarter the number of guards. It's still a good story with those numbers, plus you get the added bonus of believability."

"If you choose to doubt my professional prowess, Daniel, that's entirely your affair. I stand by what I said, and you can pretend to be as confident as you like: if you were really sure you would have corrected me in front of everyone."

Daniel had made that mistake exactly once. Vala's reaction had reminded him of the line in _The Lord of the Rings_ about the pique of a liar who is doubted when they actually told the truth for once. However, she had been genuinely upset, though the specifics were different than what Daniel originally assumed: he had interrupted the flow of her story and damaged her rapport with her audience, and there was no way she was taking that lying down. She was used to Daniel doubting her, but there was an established suspension of disbelief that accompanied her story-telling tradition in the mess, and she didn't appreciate Daniel disrupting everything just because he had a quibble about strict veracity.

In the end he had apologized profusely, taken her out to dinner, endured her referring to the dinner as "finally finishing our date," and watched six episodes of _Lost_ in one night. ("Just making up for lost time, darling." "You're the one who was sulking and pretending I didn't exist." "You're the one who was an asshat." She _would_ get that one right. He strongly suspected he had a certain general to thank for that.)

After supper they watched a couple of _Lost_ episodes, during which Vala used Daniel as some form of human pillow: sometimes she just leaned her head on his shoulder, other times his legs became a footrest, and sometimes she sprawled across his lap and used his leg to support her arm, which in turn propped up her head, all the while leaning back against his torso.

He made sure to grouse about it every time, but like he told Jack, he had found he didn't really mind: there was something very innocent about it, as if she just liked the companionship created by physical contact. There was nothing sexual about it.

Vala had been surprised by how little resistance Daniel offered to her penchant for finding somewhat creative ways to lean all over him during their nightly _Lost_ episodes. She was even more surprised by how quickly the grumbling became merely token, but pretended to take it seriously: she didn't want to lose her current license to sprawl all over him, and suspected that letting him know that she knew he didn't mind might get her banished to the other side of the couch.

During the episodes, Vala drove Daniel nuts by frequently pausing the disc to ask questions about references she didn't understand. She, meanwhile, was frustrated by his calm through plot twists and shocking character revelations and the like. Still, they managed to end most evenings more or less amiably, even after disagreements about whether particular characters were making good choices, and went their separate ways for the night.

Daniel had done the math, and at the rate they were going they would finish season 2 several weeks before season 3 became available on DVD. He didn't want to revert to the fights from before their odd new balance had been struck (nor, a small voice in the back of his mind that was getting harder to tune out insisted, did he want to give up the time they spent together; he ignored the voice and hoped it would go away), so he decided they'd need something else to fill the gap. He didn't have a clue what might fit the bill, and he already endured enough ribbing from his teammates and co-workers about the amount of time he and Vala had been spending together, so he couldn't ask them. Where to turn for help?

Then the perfect solution hit him: Cassie. He sent her an email.

Subject line: _in need of your expertise_

_Hey Cassie,_

_I don't know how much of this has reached you through the SGC and Friends rumor mill, but Vala and I have found that watching _Lost_ together helps us get along. As in, we're co-workers who have figured out how to be better friends with one another. And despite what you may have heard, that's _all_ it is. Really._

_Anyway, we're almost done with the currently available episodes, and I was wondering if you could recommend another show that Vala would like and I wouldn't hate?_

_Oh, I've just had a thought! If you'd also be willing to recommend books that are culturally relevant and that Vala might be convinced to read (you know about her attention span, right?), that would also be great._

_I hope everything's good with you, and thanks in advance!_

_Daniel_

He received a reply the next day.

_Daniel,_

_Regarding the nature of your relationship with Vala: it's probably none of my business, but methinks the gentleman doth protest too much._

_Oh, my god. I just typed that without even thinking about it. Jack's right: I really am irrevocably a geek. And if you think I don't know that you just mentally, and maybe aloud if you're alone, cussed him out in at least five languages for teaching me to disparage even my own geekiness, you're wrong. Just because you can be multicultural about it doesn't make you less of a pottymouth, so shame on you!_

_Anyway, to business. Watch _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_: Vala will eat it up and I think you'll like it. It's basically about the main characters growing up and learning how to live in this monumentally screwed-up world, and most of that is done through the metaphor of fighting monsters. That might sound ridiculous, but I'm being completely serious when I say that I don't know how I would've gotten through Mom's death without _Buffy_: it's that well done._

_As for books: I _refuse_ to recommend anything until I have proof that you've both read _Harry Potter_. Seriously, Daniel, it pains me that you haven't yet: I've been telling you how good they are for years, and they're full of all these mythical references and I'm pretty sure I miss a lot of the significance of the names just because I don't know Latin and Greek. Plus, the last book (holy crap! I am not prepared for it to be the last, but I need to know what happens! crap!) is about to come out, so you won't even have to deal with the suspense!_

_However, because I'm a giver, I will offer you one hint about getting Vala to read: audiobooks. The HP ones are supposed to be really good, and I bet there's good ones of other (less important) books with which you'd like her to be familiar._

_Hope this is enough to maintain your more harmonious _relationship_ until season 3 of _Lost_ is released. Stay safe!_

_Cassie_

Daniel smiled. Hearing from Cassie usually brightened his day regardless, even if she was joining the rest of his friends in being a relentless tease about Vala, and her recommendations were exactly what he needed. It looked like he had some shopping to do.


	3. Unexpected Answers

Spoilers: The Gamekeeper, The Ties that Bind

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Between school and finally getting around to watching _Supernatural_, I've been pretty busy. I can't make any promises about how long between this and the next chapter, but it will _hopefully_ not be quite as long. Thank you so much for your patience!

. . .

"Is it just me," Vala said, without preamble, "or are the women in these stories rather atrociously limited in what they can actually _do_?"

Daniel looked up from the artifact he was examining, and Vala flashed him the cover of the book to which she referred: an illustrated collection of stories about King Arthur and his knights. "It's not just you," he informed her.

"Well, it's not fair! You've got all these strapping, if tiresomely virtuous, men running around having adventures, and the only women who are remotely interesting always turn out to be evil! _What_?" Daniel had the strangest look on his face, as though a smile and shock had a fight that resulted in a draw.

He turned away. He wasn't sure what his face looked like but he didn't want to pique her curiosity any further: this wasn't something he wanted to discuss. Or rather, the places the conversation could easily lead weren't ones he cared to visit. Not here, not with Vala. "Nothing."

"Oh, no you don't! That was _not_ a 'nothing' face!" She folded her arms, made what Daniel called her stubborn face, and waited for him to capitulate.

He glanced over, saw her posture, and sighed. "Fine. Your, uh, feminist rant. It, uh, well . . . you just kind of . . . sounded like my mom for a minute there."

Suddenly Vala had a thousand questions, but she held herself in check. Something in Daniel's voice, the way he wasn't quite looking at her, signaled that she would learn more by letting him say what he planned to say.

"See, I remember my dad reading to me from a book like that when I was little," Daniel continued, not quite able to believe he was telling her this, choosing his words with care so that, if he was lucky, she wouldn't know this was anything but a typical (for him) childhood memory, "and my mom interrupting to say basically what you just said. They would have these friendly arguments about it, with him saying that he saw her point but they were still good stories, and her saying that she never said they weren't but it's important to draw attention to the sexism so we don't get complacent. And yes, I knew what complacent meant when I was little."

Vala smiled at his anticipatory statement, but took a moment to figure out how to respond. She'd always assumed Daniel avoided talking about his parents for reasons similar to hers, but now she thought she might've gotten it wrong: maybe he'd had an unhappy childhood due to an entirely different, and more tragic, set of circumstances. Even though she was burning with curiosity, she decided to give him an out, since he hadn't wanted to broach the subject in the first place.

"What's 'feminist'?"

Daniel smiled, relieved that this was the direction the conversation was taking. "Oh, that's complicated, but it's basically a movement that strives to bring about equality between men and women in all areas of society. And when I say 'basically,' I mean that I really couldn't put it any more simplistically than that, but that's _far_ from all there is to it."

"Huh. I wouldn't have pegged you Tau'ri as one of the societies that still didn't have that sorted, what with this being the birthplace of human civilization and all that."

"You're saying you've been places where they _did_ have gender equality, uh, 'sorted'?" Daniel asked, intrigued.

"Of course. In fact, I grew up in one of those places. Well, from when I was eight, anyway. I rather think the village before that was more rigid in their notions of gender-appropriate behavior. Actually, that would explain a few things. . ." she trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"You got in trouble a lot, didn't you?" Daniel asked shrewdly.

"Yes, and I never understood why the boys weren't punished nearly as severely for exactly the same behavior. I guess they didn't have feminism yet. Did I use that correctly?"

"Yeah. So the place you moved when you were eight—was it just a different village, or—?"

"It was a city, and it was on another planet. It was overseen by a minor Goa'uld who had allowed a degree of technological development in order to increase mining productivity. Based on what I've heard you and Sam say, it was probably comparable to your country some time in the first half of the last century.

We lived near this mechanic, who I later learned was the best in the city, but at the time I idolized her because she not only let me hide out in the shop when I was avoiding, well, never mind what. Anyway, she let me do that, and she showed me how things worked if she had the time, and not a peep about it being too dangerous for someone my age. Plus her kids were the first friends I made there." Vala paused. She hadn't meant to mention Lali and Avel. Especially Avel.

Daniel saw something flicker across Vala's face, and it occurred to him that she may have been talking about the last home she had before she was taken as a host. He didn't want her to feel like she had to talk about that if she didn't want to. It was none of his business anyway. But before he could find a tactful way to change the subject, Vala found her own out.

"Anyway, though there's no doubt my childhood exploits are far more fascinating that whatever that thing is," she gestured towards the artifact, "I'd better let you get back to it. I want you in a good mood for the season finale tonight!"

"Hang on. I thought we had four episodes left, not two."

"Oh, we do. That's why I want you in a good mood!" she said, flashing him a grin.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "No."

"You say that now, but I'd like to remind you that I've been on my best behavior, plus I'm sure it's going to be very exciting, and—"

"Vala. If you don't want to lose what little chance you have of changing my mind, why don't you try shutting up," Daniel interjected, hoping to milk as much peace and quiet out of the situation as possible.

She mimed zipping her mouth closed, locking it, and throwing away the key.

"You won't last half an hour," Daniel said, attempting a little reverse psychology. He glanced at her, and she was eyeing him suspiciously. He should know better than to try and beat her at her own game, but wasn't she the one who was always saying that you can't blame a person for trying? He did his best to look innocent. Vala snorted, suspicions confirmed, but she also went back to her book.

For the moment, a truce.

* * *

"Sorry, it's _how_ long until we get season 3?!" Vala asked plaintively.

"A few weeks," Daniel answered warily—he knew how invested she allowed herself to get; according to Cassie, they were lucky Vala hadn't discovered online "fandom." When Daniel asked what that was, she said he'd have to research it for himself, but not to worry because it would be fun, what with his love of learning about other cultures; he hadn't had time yet.

"A few _weeks_!" Vala wailed, and collapsed dramatically onto the couch. Daniel

managed to get out of her way just in time, getting up to turn on the hot pot so he could make her a cup of tea to help her calm down. In the mean time, he needed a way to distract her from her preoccupation with the season finale cliffhanger.

"Can I ask you something about what we talked about earlier today?" he ventured.

Vala removed the pillow she had tossed over her face for added flair, feeling the beginnings of a break in the frantic circling of her thoughts. "Of course. Since when do you ask permission before you ask me questions?"

"Since I want to make sure you know it's OK if you don't answer."

Now he had her attention. She pulled herself into a sitting position and, since he seemed to be waiting for a response from her, nodded.

"Those people you mentioned—Lali and Avel?—" she nodded again, thinking that she might very well exercise that option to not answer whatever question this was going to turn into.

"Well, and I admit I could be completely off base here, but it sounded like they were good friends of yours, at least when you were a kid, so I was wondering if you ever reconnected with them, after . . ." he trailed off, not sure what the right way to say it was.

"After I was freed from Qetesh," Vala supplied matter-of-factly as a click from the hot pot indicated that the water had boiled and Daniel poured it into a mug, using the string attached to the bag of chamomile to dunk it up and down so it would steep more efficiently, a gesture so practiced it was almost absent-minded. He carried the mug over to Vala, passing it to her carefully, and sat down next to her, waiting to see if she would answer.

Vala stared at her tea for a moment, then made her decision. "You know what's funny? I sort of already told you," she said, not looking up.

Daniel tried to recall whatever tall tale into which she had embedded this tidbit, but drew a blank. "Sorry, you'll have to refresh my memory. If you want to."

"Well, that's not really your fault, given that at the time I allowed you to think that 'messing with you,' as you put it, included false information as well as manipulative use of that information. Also I'd like to point out that my ability to articulate that distinction indicates _far_ too much time spent assisting you with Ancient texts."

Daniel barely heard her teasing remark, because now he knew what she was talking about. "You mean what you said when you tried to seduce me after we figured out we were still cuffed together even without the bracelets, about being engaged before you were a host but then rejected after you were freed. That really happened?" Daniel was horrified: that she had to go through that, that he'd been so quick to assume it was a lie, and, maybe worst of all, that part of him knew perfectly well how such a thing could happen, even if her fiancé had still loved her.

"More or less. Let's just say that, thanks to some things Qetesh did while I was her host, no one believed it was really me when I went back—Avel least of all. I barely escaped with my life—wouldn't have, if the Tok'ra who freed me in the first place hadn't got wind of what happened and rescued me. I haven't been back since. I suppose I hope they're all alright and at least somewhat happy, but that's as far as it goes. Does that answer your question?"

"You tell the truth a lot more often that I give you credit for, don't you?"

Vala smiled sadly, and Daniel thought that some of it—too much of it his fault—was probably genuine. "My secret's out. Took you long enough to catch on, and you'll still be mostly wrong about which parts of my suppertime tales are true and which are . . . poetic license," she added with a smirk. He shook his head, smiling resignedly.

"Hey, Daniel?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it weird that talking about one of the worst things that's ever happened to me has calmed me down enough that I can imagine surviving not knowing what happens next on _Lost_ for a few weeks?"

"Definitely. But it's far from the weirdest thing about you," he added, getting up to leave: it was late, and they were going off world tomorrow. Vala stuck her tongue out at him.

He hesitated by the door. He thought he'd probably regret it, but: "Do you want a hug before I go?" She raised her eyebrows, and Daniel knew from her expression that her comment would be suggestive, so he quickly added, "_Don't_ read into it, I just know that it can't have been easy to talk about all that, however briefly, and I'm trying to do a better job of . . . speaking your language."

"Well, a girl has to take what she can get, " Vala said, and set her tea down as she got up to accept the proffered hug.

Daniel didn't think it was a conscious decision, and couldn't for the life of him have said why he did it, but as they broke apart he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

It took Vala a moment to register that the soft brush against her cheek had been a _kiss_ from _Daniel_. Who had retreated a couple of paces and looked just as surprised, and many times more awkward, as she felt.

"Um—?"

"So," he began at the same time and then, relieved, remembered that he hadn't told her about his plans for evening entertainment to fill the _Lost_ void. "No _Lost_ for a few weeks, but I have some alternatives for the meantime."

"Really? Do tell!" Vala was intrigued, if a little disappointed: she'd had a definite . . . _reaction_ to the kiss that she very much wanted to follow up, but she knew better than to take her usual approach with Daniel.

Daniel, relieved that she was so easily distracted and that he wouldn't have to figure out what the hell had just happened and then explain it to her, cocked his head, considering. "No," he told her smugly. "You'll just have to wait and see," turned, and left, ignoring her yells of plaintive outrage. Cam's rules for off world would only shield him from her cajoling for so long, but sometimes it was worth it to be on the giving, rather than the receiving, end of a certain level of aggravation. He shook his head as he waited for the elevator to the surface: Vala was a bad influence.


End file.
